It's a Gift
by Lara1221
Summary: Lily Luna Potter is on a mission. (Quite a few, actually, since Valentine's Day is making everyone soft. How she loathes this holiday.) [AlbusSP/OC, Rose/Scorpius] [Companion to "Meddling" and Prequel to "When in Rome" and "Falling, Heart First", but can stand alone] [Friendship/Romance/Family/Humor]


**Disclaimer: **I don't own the cover of this story (you British ppl have funky sweet hearts XD), and anything but the plot of this story (which goes to JK Rowling).

**A/N: **First off, you guys have no idea how long I've been writing this. So much so that after these first couple of sentences, it's an _old _author's note. I know it's not Valentine's, but bare with me, okay? :) I don't know why this one day fascinates me so much, but I've barely written anything solely around Lily Luna yet and she was the actual mastermind in _Meddling_ and I _love her _so here we go :D This is a companion piece to _Meddling_, which is AlbusSP's story of the day where he schemes to get Scorpius and Rose together since he thinks his own love life is lost. In addition, both that story and this one have two sequels, which are companions to each other: _Falling, Heart First _and _When in Rome_, which feature Ron and Hermione's reactions and Draco and Astoria's reactions respectively. So yeah, this can stand alone, but it would mean a lot if you checked those out because they all connect :D **Written for: (you can skip to the story now)**

**Spells comp: stupefy: **write about Scorpius**; tv show comp: sherlock: **write about someone with excellent deduction skills**; wand wood comp: fir: **write a next-gen story**; disney character comp: hook hand thug: **write about Scorpius**; Ffn terms comp: troll: **write about someone who isn't very smart**; fav songs challenge: taylor swift: love story: **write a romance**; Eurovision comp: uk: **write about Weasley-Potters**; hunger games comp: **"You've got about as much charm as a dead slug."**; hp chps comp: nineteen years later:** write a next gen**;**

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><p><span>It's a Gift<span>

or

Meddling: Perfected

With a _tap tap tap_ on the window, Lily Luna Potter was awake. She moaned slightly; her dad had never been a morning person either. When she checked the clock on the dormitory wall and saw it was an hour before breakfast was even beginning to be served, she made a vow to murder whomever that letter was from.

Lily rubbed her eyes and cleared her vision. When she saw it was James' owl, she grimaced and her anger doubled. Those two were the most annoying pair of beings on the planet, and she could hear the conversation her eldest brother had with Gwenog, telling her to bother his younger sister as much as possible. Growling at James' plan to wake her early on the day she loathed more than nearly any other, she viciously tore open the seal.

_Hey, sis!_

_Happy Valentine's Day! I thought you could use some early morning love in my dearest of hopes that it would put this beautiful jinx on you where young men wouldn't look at you until you were twenty five._

_Nope? What a shame._

_I guess it's not too bad. I could always punch him in the face._

_Multiple times._

_Kidding!_

_(Maybe.)_

_Anyway, I'm writing to inform you that Adelaide is mad at me and if you could cook up some ingenious thing of yours for Valentine's to make it up to her, that would be great._

_I didn't even do anything!_

_(Maybe.)_

_I'm also writing to inform you that you need to do something about Al so he doesn't mope around like a pathetic little swot all day. Perhaps you could come up with some great plan, and then convince him he had a large part it in so he doesn't feel totally useless. He's not very good at plans, is he? Or birds, really. Who's that bird he's head over arse for? Melinda or something? Work on that - he needs to loosen up. I'm sure she's fantastic too, if she's won the affections of most-difficult-man-to-please-in-the-universe-our-brother._

_Or you could do something about Hugo. Or Rosie._

_Just please Lily, _please_, don't go out on a billion dates and snog till kingdom come? For your Jamie, whom you love so dearly._

_Love,  
>Punisher-Of-Admirers<br>(James)_

Lily rolled her eyes at James' usual schemes and general stupidity. How the idiot she had grown up with, who occasionally wore his briefs on his head, managed to land not only one of the prettiest girls in his year but the most brilliant as well was a mystery to her. If Al wasn't Head Boy, sometimes she would think she was the only one in that house with half a brain.

Lily pulled out a spare piece of parchment and wrote a quick letter to the fool who had fallen in love with her brother.

_Adelaide_,

_Hi. How are you? _

_Okay, long story short: James is sorry. I don't know what he did, but his Gwenog's driving me nuts so just give him a break, yeah? On the plus side, I'm not telling him that I wrote this to you, so he's probably going to do something awesome for you some time soon, along the lines of romance and food and happiness._

_Happy Valentine's Day!_

Lily

Smirking, she wrote on another piece of parchment:

_James,_

_Happy Break Up Day to you. I don't fix relationships for a living. Figure something out._

_Okay...I really like Adelaide. Compromise: tell me what you did (I know it was you) and I'll try my best to _help_ you fix it. It's gotta be done yourself or it's not genuine at all._

_In regards to Al and Mel: challenge accepted. Never thought I'd say this, but you gave me a brilliant idea. Killing two birds with one stone sounds like a great way to spend the day._

_In regards to my dating: screw you._

_Love and Death Threats,  
>Lily<em>

Smirking, she handed it to Gwenog and firmly instructed her to peck that git of a brother until he bled, and watched her fly off, feeling much better than she had when first woken up. Though with probably only the first of many problems solved, she wasn't exactly looking forward to the rest of the day.

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><p>Enjoying the house elves' breakfast quite a bit more than her mountain of Valentines, Lily pondered what it is about this holiday that managed to make people so insanely thick. After all, there wasn't much to look at besides Jordan Wood, who, despite being entirely attractive and attracted to her, was not her main concern.<p>

(Now, if he were to ask her out, that's an entirely different story.)

Lily had hatched a plan with her brother and his crush this morning, but from a quick look around the room it seemed obvious to her that this was going to be her job.

Rose is chattering away about something or other, and it's so obvious that she's looking at Scorpius every other word it makes Lily's temper, inherited from her father, flare up like mad. Melonie Malone, the girl Al was just about head-over-heels for, was looking _Al's _way, but he was too busy glaring at his younger sister to notice. (Lily was throwing flirtatious smiles at the givers of her Valentines just to wind Al up. It was working.)

Scorpius Malfoy was possibly the worst, though. Al knew he liked Melonie, even if he wasn't ready to admit his feelings yet. Mel was probably going to tell Al today, but Lily could easily push that to her advantage, if not. Rose had told Lily quite a while ago that she thought she might like Scorp. If Lily could get Scorpius to get it, they were good to go. If she was lucky, he might have it by breakfast because Al doesn't have Mel to distract him from being convincing. Then she would only have to get him to confess.

Which is why she tracked him down, right after breakfast. Melonie and Al were whispering conspiratorially and walking in the other direction, but Merlin knows they weren't actually going to get anything done, infatuated with each other as they were.

"What are you doing?" asked Hugo.

"Planning," she replied.

"Manipulating?" he suggested.

"Of course."

She sidestepped him as he was waving goodbye to Rose with that goofy smile on his face. He was a good bit taller than her, and she stuck her hands out before he could run her right over.

"Hello, Scorpius."

"Why do I get the feeling this is not going to be an enjoyable conversation?"

"Because you have good instincts." ("At least that's what I _thought_," she added to herself.)

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><p>Ten minutes later, they sat in a broom cupboard.<p>

"I hate you, Lily."

"That's nice, Scorpius. Happy Valentine's Day to you too."

"This is the worst situation I've every been in."

"Rubbish. You and Al broke my mother's vase. Mum is much scarier than I am." She smirked in the darkness though, and sparks flew from her wand.

Scorpius flinched, and they sat in silence: Lily glaring, Scorpius cowering.

_How can people be this patient_?

"Do you like Rose, or not?"

"I figured out I love her this morning. It's kind of a new development."

"Wow, Al did something well, look at that."

"Mhm."

"What are you going to bloody do about it, then?!"

"Haven't decided."

"Tell her!"

"Not that."

"Are you kidding?" He shrugged. Lily shot him with a tickling jinx. He wasn't nonchalant, after that.

"Well, since you've obviously been waiting to tell me _since you locked me in here_, what does Miss Ingenious suggest?"

Lily smiled in a way that would make her Uncle George proud. "I'm glad you asked."

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><p>"Al, hold these for me, will you?" asked Scorpius, handing his best mate the bundle of flowers. "I think I'm going to be sick."<p>

"Here, drink this," Lily reached out a butterbeer to Scorpius, but Albus snatched it up and gulped half of it down, as best mates usually do.

(Al missed her smirk.)

"You bastard."

"Pleasure."

After an hour in the dungeon, brewing a much needed courage potion (her plans really were incredibly simple. It amazes her that some people don't seem to grasp them.), she found her self at the end of the corridor next to the Great Hall, waiting for Mel to arrive with Rose from who-knows-where.

Probably the library, knowing Rosie.

As if on cue, a peek of red appeared from the end of the hallway, and soon Rose's entire body was coming this way and Scorpius was shaking as she grew ever closer. Al rapidly handed the flowers back to Scorp, who tried not to tear them to shreds in anxiousness. Lily dragged Al away, and they said high to Rose as Mel said goodbye, giving an excuse that it was time to eat; in reality, they ducked around the corner.

And Mel and Al didn't get to know what was going on, because _they_ weren't smart enough to leave an extendable ear at the end of the hall. _Thank you, Uncle George. _

"Rose — Happy Valentine's Day." Scorpius was stuttering, and it made Rose laugh.

"You too, Scorp. Flowers are a bit much, though, don't you think? Even if they are my favorite." She leaned down to smell them, Scorpius did the same.

"I see why you like them. They're beautiful."

"That they are."

"You didn't have to think of me."

"I wanted to. I'm always thinking of you, anyway," it came out fast, and when Lily saw Scorpius turn a shade of red that no Malfoy had seen before him, she laughed much harder than she should have.

And Rose turned entirely serious, that was the best part. Silently, she thanked Merlin for her gift in potions, because Godric knows she didn't get it from her parents. _  
><em>

Her eyes widened, and a bright smile slowly appeared on her face.

Then, together:

"I love you."

"I love you."

Lily tuned out her extendable ear, because the noises that followed were not ones she wanted to hear.

Lily smiled in satisfaction; that was every problem, solved. Finally, and thank Merlin.

(Mel and Al hadn't quite worked it out yet, but there was nothing like a bit of liquid courage to get that going. This time, she did thank her parents, because that was the only possible source of her brother's unreasonable love for butterbeer.)

(Her Uncle Ron taught her that.)

"Ah. To be young, and in love," Lily sighed, beaming at the couple.

Albus nudged her. "Who said that?"

Lily stroked her chin thoughtfully. "Daddy," she decided.

Albus laughed, "Sure, Lils. Hey, look over there. Go ahead." Lily looks up to see him pointing in the direction of Jordan Wood, who seems to be coming her way, anyway. She smiles a little.

"Really, Al?" Lily looked up hopefully at him. "You like him?" As much as she tries to hide it, they're her brothers, and she cares about their opinions.

(Only a little, though.)

"Lily, of course I do. I knew him when he was in diapers, remember? He plays a mean quidditch game, too. Really, Lily, he's great. Go on."

"Oh, thanks Al!" Lily wrapped Al in a hug.

Her brother chuckled, holding her tight, "I was unaware my opinion meant that much."

She smiled at him, "Of course it does," and kissed his cheek.

Lily walked hand in hand with Jordan around the castle for a while, smiling and talking and laughing.

But it _was _Valentine's Day, and Lily reached a point when she pulled Jordan into a secret passageway, and stayed there with him until she lost track of time...

(Jamie would not be pleased, but Lily could not seem to care.)

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><p>"Do you ever question the lengths you go to when you manipulate people?" Hugo asked her, when it was just the two of them in the Common Room at an incredibly late hour, simply because they felt like staying up and talking about life.<p>

(Interestingly enough, Hugo and Lily get this feeling about twice a week. It may or may not have something to do with not wanting to do schoolwork.)

"It's a gift, Hugo. Don't question it."

They burst into laughter together.

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><p><strong>I love writing these guys :D Please let me know what you think, and check out the companion and sequels if you really liked it!<strong>


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